･ﾟ: HTTYD Oneshots ･ﾟ:
by DelaineyH
Summary: A bunch of random oneshots and tumblr dabbles for one of my favourite gangs. (Mostly hiccstrid stories though.) *Cross posted on my Wattpad & AO3 accounts*
1. For The Dancing And The Dreaming

**Post HTTYD 2**

Hiccup laid back heavily against their bed arms spread out on the covers, relaxing after a long, laborious day of being chief, and let out a tired sigh. Astrid chuckles as she watches the display from across the room. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Hiccup hums, "Just tired."

The blonde removed and placed her armor on the top of the wardrobe by the door of their bedroom, and smiles as she makes her way over to the bed. Hiccup squinted a single eye open as his girlfriend approached closer before outstretching his arms in front of himself as an invitation. The blonde grinned, leaning her knee against the edge of the bed before falling into her boyfriend's embrace. Hiccups's arms wrap lovingly around her as they laid back, and Astrid nuzzled her face into her neck. Hiccup chuckled, "You're in a cuddly mood."

Astrid didn't look up, instead shuffling her body closer into the dragon master's side. "I can't help it, you're so warm." Hiccup smiled at that, and tilted his head back to rest on the bed, staring at the ceiling for a while, soaking in the moment.

After a few more seconds of laying in silence, enjoying each other's company, Astrid shuffled her head out from the crook of his neck and onto his shoulder, getting a good look at Hiccups face.

"You should probably get changed," she murmurs, "It's getting late."

Hiccup pulls her a little closer, then whispers into her hair, "In a bit."

Astrid chuckles, "You'll fall asleep, baby. The bags under your eyes betray you."

"That's okay," He responds, "I don't want to get up right now," he tightens his embrace to prove his statement; he didn't want this calm, blissful moment to end. Especially not when he hasn't seen his beautiful girlfriend in numerous hours after such a tiring day. Being chief had really taken a toll on the young dragon rider, he'd been struggling with the responsibility and dealing with the loss of his father. In addition to the constant stress of his role as leader, Hiccup also has lost a huge amount of time with toothless and his girlfriend. Thankfully his friend's and mother, especially Astrid, have been extremely caring towards him and offer their help with his tasks as chief.

"I'll still be here when you get back," Astrid murmurs, pulling her head away from his neck once again so she can meet his amber-green eyes.

Hiccup smiles, "I know you will be." he says softly, swiping his thumb across Astrid's forehead to move her hair before leaning forward to press a light kiss to the skin.

A foreign weight in his chest and pocket where the box was kept comes back to the forefront of his mind as his girlfriend kisses his cheek in response.

The words, Gobber had gotten on his case again at work. They've been together for years, they've experienced countless adventures together, they've overcome numerous problems together side by side, _they were a team, _Astrid and him. And Hiccup wouldn't change it for the world. He couldn't see himself with anyone else; he can't imagine his life without Astrid being beside him, always having his back, holding is head up and comforting him in times of heartache. "Either you're falling asleep like I predicted, or you're deep in thought. Right now it's hard to tell," Astrid mused suddenly.

"A bit of both," Hiccup bantered in response, "But can you really blame me? I've got the love of my life in my arms, the most beautiful woman in the world."

"You're such a flirt, Haddock." she playfully tapped his shoulder with her fist before propping herself on her side on the bed to get a better look at him. "What are you thinking about, hmm?" she teased.

"Oh you know, same old same old," he said vaguely, and rests his head back again. Astrid flopped back onto the bed beside him, grasping his hand softly as they both stared up at the ceiling in tranquility.

"Hey, Astrid?" The young chief murmured, seeming to resume being deep in thought.

She hums, prompting Hiccup to continue. "What if we got married?" he pondered aloud.

Astrid lets out a playful hum of consideration, though there is a glint of hopefulness in her expression. Usually, she'd be pushing away the thought of marriage, but hearing those words come from Hiccup's mouth makes her heart race. Hiccup smiles; he knows that Astrid thinks he's joking. "That is probably the _laziest _proposal I've ever heard." she jokes.

"Oh, I don't really think you mind," Hiccup responded slyly, "You've never really been a fan of theatrics, have you?"

"I suppose you're right.." she drawls, smirking slightly as she hears him take in a nervous breath.

"Sooo, is that a yes?"

"Maybe, but if you really want me to say yes then you're gonna have to put on a show, Haddock." She turned onto her stomach and propped herself on her elbows as he sat up to look at her.

"You never make things easy, do you?"

"No, but after all these years, is that really a surprise?" she purred playfully, causing him to pause and gaze at his hopefully future wife with complete astonishment. He was truly a lucky viking. "Gods, you're more stubborn than toothless. You're right, I guess I should have seen this coming," he sighed and looked at her for another second before rolling his eyes and getting off the bed. Astrid moved to the end of the bed and sat cross legged, propping her elbows on her knees and resting her chin in her hands. As he got to his feet, Hiccup did a small playful bow, prompting a giggle from Astrid.

"So, what do you want me to do exactly?"

She shrugged and smiled. "I don't know, chief. Surprise me." He paused for a moment contemplating before smirking and clearing his throat in a dramatic fashion. Astrid raised an eyebrow in amusement.

_"I'll swim and sail on savage seas, with never fear of drowning."_ He started to sing, his voice low as he tried to match the right pitch, his voice slowly growing more relaxed, almost mimicking the tone his father used as he sang to his mother months before. _"And gladly ride the waves of life, if you will marry me."_ Astrid let out a small laugh and held a hand over her mouth in soft astonishment. Hiccup smiled and continued. _"No scorching sun, nor freezing cold will stop me on my journey. If you will promise me you're heart,"_ He slowly walked towards Astrid on the bed, outstretching a hand to help her up onto her feet. _"And love." _

In sudden shock, Astrid shook her head and waved her hands stopping his hand from grasping hers. "No no, sorry Hiccup. I don't sing. _Or dance._" She added.

Raising an eyebrow, he pulled her onto her feet and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her close to his body and preventing her from escaping. "Come on babe. You asked for a show. Besides, _its tradition_." He tried, and after a second Astrid caved under his stare and begrudgingly joined in.

"_And love me for eternity."_ As she sang the line quietly, Hiccups smile grew extremely wide, causing Astrid to redden and look away flusteredly. Raising his hand, he touched her chin and raised it so her eyes met his. "_My dearest one, my darling dear, your mighty words astound me."_

Swaying from foot to foot, Astrid subconsciously wrapped her arms around Hiccups neck and looked into his eyes. "_But i've no need for mighty deeds when I feel your arms around me._" She continued. He tightened his hold around her waist.

_"But I would bring you rings of gold, I'd even sing you poetry,"_ Outside, a crack of thunder erupted in the distance, but the couple was too swept up in the moment to notice. _"And I would keep you from all harm if you would stay beside me." _His voice stayed hushed in their dimly lit bedroom, ignoring the outside world and solely focusing on his girlfriend.

Still having one hand around her waist, Hiccup held up her right hand with his left. Astrid continued to have one hand on his shoulder as they swayed to the lyrics they sang together. _"I have no use for rings of gold, I care not for your poetry, I only want your hand to hold,"_

_"I only want you near me." _They intoned simultaneously, causing them both to chuckle. _"To love and kiss, to sweetly hold, for the dancing and the dreaming."_

Leaning forwards, Astrid rested her head on Hiccups chest with comfort causing him to beam down at her. _"Through all life's sorrows and delights, i'll keep your laugh inside me."_ He continued to murmur as Astrid focused on his voice and rythmic sound of his heartbeat. "_I'll swim and sail a savage seas with never fear of drowning. And gladly ride the waves of life," _Astrid raised her head as he took a step back, Hiccup grasped her hands in his and got down on one knee. "_..If you will marry me."_

She gaped down at him as he stared up at her with stars in his eyes.

"So? Will you, Astrid Hofferson, do me the pleasure of becoming my wife?" He reached into a leather pocket and pulled out the wooden box.

Her eyes only widen more as she sees what she'd caught. A... _ring box?_ A small tear came rolling down her cheeks as Astrid stared down at him, one hand covering her mouth to stifle a gasp. She feels tears start to form in the corners of her eyes and looks up at Hiccup then back down at the box. "O-Oh my Gods..."

They had vaguely discussed rings before whenever the idea of marriage came up between them, though the thought was brushed off for a while, clearly Hiccup had been paying attention to her thoughts on wedding rings. Astrid had offhandedly mentioned that she was not a fan of the fancy, excessive wedding details, but instead preferred small, charming and modest alternatives. "Hiccup I-I love it."

"I made it for you, but toothless helped." She tearily chuckled at that. The small steel ring was a sliver band with a deadly nadder and nightfury flying in a yin-yang formation carved into it. A small symbol that manages to convey their history together, and to Astrid it meant so much. With a happy little laugh, she watched as Hiccup pulled the ring out of the box gently. He carefully slides the ring onto her finger, and of course it fits perfectly, everything Hiccup does is perfect. She turns her hand a few times, still trying to convince herself that this is real. She stares at her hand in silence for a moment until she notices Hiccups gaze. "Baby..." She breathed with a smile, there was no use hiding the tears of joy at this point.

Astrid leaped forwards as soon as he stood up, gripping his jaw with both hands, and Hiccup can't help the smile that spreads across his face as he feels the cool metal of a ring pressing against his cheek's skin. Astrid kisses him breathless, and when she pulls back, she leaned her forehead against his. "I can't believe you."

Hiccup laughs, "I'm sorry," he says, "I know this isn't the proper setting." he looked around at their cluttered bedroom, the flickering from the candle was the only source of light due to the late hour, "But Gobber really got into my head about the whole 'its now or never' thing, and I had the ring with me for a while, then you walked in and you looked so beautiful, and gods, I saw an opportunity and took it."

"No, it was perfect. Hiccup, _you're perfect_. My Gods, I love you so much."

Hiccup smiles, "I love you too, Astrid."

"Alright chief," the blonde chuckles, wrapping her arms around Hiccup's neck, "And if I haven't made it clear enough, _yes_. Yes, I'll marry you."

"You're the light of my life, Mrs. Haddock. Though don't tell Toothless that, he'll get jealous." They shared another chuckle. Leaning in again, she smiles as she pressed another kiss to her fiance's lips.

Hiccup's heart soars.


	2. Hiccup Notices Things

**Summary: Hiccup finding out Astrids pregnant before she does because he notices things. **

***Set after previous chapter***

"Stormfly's been acting really weird around me today," Astrid commented as they ate their dinner; Hiccup, who sat across from her at the table, raised an eyebrow at his wife.

"How? In what way?" he asked, glancing over at their dragons who were asleep in the corner of the room. Due to the cold weather outside, and their stubborn attitudes, the couple's dragons' managed to somehow convince their owners into letting them sleep indoors, despite the cramptness of having two full sized dragons and adult vikings under one roof.

"She wouldn't let me get on her, wouldn't let me fly. I was working in the arena trying to train the adolescent dragons and she kept pushing and nudging me out of the arena. She even attacked _Ruffnut_," Astrid sighed, Hiccup raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Not severely," she assured, "but it's clear something was wrong. In all fairness though, Ruff was charging at me with a mace and I was preoccupied with preparing the targets, but the twins always do things like that. Stormfly's been acting different, she's not usually like that, _aggressive towards our friends." _

"She was fine when I left this morning," Hiccup notes, Astrid nodded sadly.

"Yeah it seemed that once we stepped outside, she started acting odd," she went to take a mouthful of her food but stopped, feeling queasy all of a sudden, she put her fork down in her plate.

"I don't think she's sick," Hiccup commented, pushing around his food with his utensils, and looked up at his wife. "I can ask Fishlegs to look at her, he knows alot when it comes to these sort of things."

She nodded again, pushing her plate away from her, the smell of fish suddenly too much to handle for the young viking.

Hiccup watched her discarding her food.

"You're not hungry? You usually are after training." he noticed. She shook her head.

"I'm not feeling great," Astrid replied, touching her hand to her mouth, feeling a sweat break out on her forehead, "I'm gonna go and lie down,"

"Alright. That's a good idea, take it easy." The young chief responded in understandment.

Her chair scraped the floor as she stood, making her way up the stairs to their bedroom.

Hiccup sat at the table, looking at the doorway which his wife disappeared through before looking over at their dragons. Making eye contact with Stormfly, he let out a sigh and offered her a shrug. The blue dragon let out a purr before getting to her feet.

Laying down on top of the covers, Astrid eyes closed as the feeling of unease seemed to travel in waves through her stomach. She heard the thumping of a dragon's feet and the soft coo of the deadly nadder.

"Hey girl," Astrid mumbled, as her dragon nuzzled against her, sniffing her face before laying down on the floor beside the bed. Astrid rested her hand on Stormfly's scaley back and stroked her gently. Hiccup looked in on the two once he'd cleared the table and tidied the kitchen, Astrid felt the mattress shift as he sat down beside her.

"Are you okay, baby?" he asked, his hand brushing over his wife's forehead, she looked at him through heavy eyes.

"Been better," the blonde viking mumbled, taking hold of her husbands wrist and bringing his hand against her lips, his hand was cool on her warm face, and the smell of him comforting.

"I'm going to do some work okay? I'll be downstairs, just call if you need me," he said, stroking his fingers over her cheek, "Or send Stormfly to get me."

"Alright," she replied, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, her blue eyes closing again. Astrid felt Hiccup stand, Stormfly made a small grumbling sound and nudged her head against her chin, Hiccup patted the dragons head thankfully before exiting the bedroom.

The feeling of unease persisted for several days, the nausea was worse in the mornings and seemed to get easier further into the day, although Astrid was still struggling with her evening meals, anything to strong smelling or tasting had her feeling terrible.

One evening the couple was invited to hang out with the gang, Astrid stayed at home, not wanting to seem rude or be caught in a difficult situation if she became ill during the night, though she insisted that Hiccup went with their friends. She was currently sitting on the bed, staring off into space when Hiccup came home. He kissed her cheek gently.

"How are you feeling?" he asked sweetly.

"Been better," Astrid replied with a small smile.

He sat down beside her, taking a long look at his blonde wife.

"I was talking to fishlegs," he started.

"Hmm? About what?" she asked, resting her head softly on his shoulder.

"You said earlier that your boobs were painful," he started rather bluntly.

"You were talking to Fishlegs about my _boobs_?" She straightened her back, staring at them as if he'd gone mad.

"No, not your boobs specifically-"

"That's extremely forthright." she shot back at him, crossing her arms.

"But it's relevant," Hiccup replied, an edge of excitement in his voice. Astrids brows furrowed for a moment as she stared back at her husband with confusion.

In her silence he spoke again, "You're late right? F-for...you know-"

She cut him off. "Yeah I suppose I am," she admitted, trying to think back over the last month. It had been a busy month, she had spent most of it working in the arena training the dragons as well as dragon riders; and Hiccup has been extremely busy with his chiefly duties. It was an extemely stressful month, so it was easy to over look the fact that she couldnt remember getting her period...

"What are you trying to say, Hiccup?" she asked, truly struggling to see where her husband was going with this.

"You know how Stormfly has been acting strange around you? And you've been feeling sick in the mornings and really sensitive to smells," he said, his words coming out in a rush and no longer able to hide his smile or his excitement.

"Uh-huh," She agreed.

"I noticed that you've been acting really off. And well, I think you're pregnant, Astrid." he finished, looking at him, he seemed to be vibrating with energy, overflowing with excitement.

"What? Oh Gods," She whispered, a part of her knew that was what he was going to say, she had started to piece the facts together over the past few days but was never sure, "I think you're right," Astrid added, biting down on her bottom lip.

"Yeah?" he said, lifting his hand to his wifes cheek. She nodded again, unable to fight the smile as it broke out across her face.

"Astrid," he breathed, pulling her close to him, wrapping his arms tightly around her body, she heard her husband sniff, his hands moving up and down her back.

"We're going to have a baby," he whispered, Astrid heard his voice get caught in his throat.

"Don't cry," she whispered, bringing her hand to the back of his neck, stroking his soft hair.

"I can't help it," he replied, "I'm just so happy,"

She felt the young chiefs hands trace along her abdomen. "You're pregnant." He repeats in awe and amazement. "With my child?"

Astrid laughed, "Yes, Haddock. I'm pretty sure it's your child."

"I just, how did you find out before me? Even Stormfly seemed to figure it out. That's a little weird, isn't it?" She breathed with a small laugh.

"Well, all the signs were there. Besides, I do sometimes help Fishlegs take care of the dragons who are going through stages of maturity. Stormfly must've sensed it somehow, a sort of maturnal instinct."

"That makes sense.." She trailed off, looking down at her husbands hand that was rested on her stomach.

It grew dark, the couple laid in bed, Hiccups arm wrapped around his young wife's waist, his fingers trailing along her abdomen. Astrid shuffles onto her other side to look up at the one legged viking. He leaned forwards and placed a small kiss on her temple. Then another on her nose. And another on her cheek bone. He places light pecks all along Astrid's face and neck.

"You have no idea how much i've wanted this, I love you so much." She can't help but giggle as his lips trail unhurriedly across her skin. "I love you too, babe."

He continues to place the same kisses all over her face as signs of affection and thanks, showing his gratitude for having her as his wife, and the mother to his child. "Thank you." She whispered into the darkness.

Hiccup chuckled. "For what?"

She shuffled closer into his side and nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck. "For everything."


	3. Confidential Pain

•**Set during rtte, around season 5•**

_**Warning: cursing and injuries. **_

"What on earth were you _thinking_?!" Astrid didn't mean to shout, but she was having a hell of a hard time keeping a hushed tone with all the anger built up inside of her.

_No one noticed Hiccup's hidden wounds when he returned to the edge from his 'evening flight' with toothless, far too occupied either playfully scolding or cooing over their well dragons to notice. All except Astrid that is_.

"You could have been _killed_, Hiccup! Why on earth would you go out alone and not tell me?! We're teammates! We don't keep _secrets_ from each other!" She put emphasis on the particular word _secret_ and Hiccup found himself ducking his head in shame. Astrid sighed deeply, deciding she needed to reel herself back in a little.

"Just..." Astrid said in a lower tone of voice, dropping her hands to her sides and softening her facial expression a little more. Hiccup suddenly blushed a little, turning his head so he wasn't able to see her even out of the corner of his eyes. She looked at the blood staining her boyfriends hands and tunic, and did her best to force back the tears threatening to pour out of her eyes.

"Take off your shirt and lay down on the bed." She looked back up at his face with a pointer look before he could respond to her demands. "If you give me any sort of banter, I'll finish what those dragon hunters started and kill you myself."

Nodding with slight terror, he removed his shirt so she could see the bruising on his side, and laid back on the bed, nervously fiddling with his fingers as his girlfriend approached, not look as mad as she did before thankfully.

"Lets see..." She mumbled, sitting down on the bed next to his body. Leaning over him, she moved her hair off her neck as she got a good look at the wound.

The burn and arrow marks on his abdomen were worse than she had thought. Peeling skin around the edges, and bruising above it on his ribs. She lightly ran her fingers over the now black and purple bruising to his right side. A dark red, angry burn that he had covered with the leather armour was swollen, the arrow wound gushing with blood, Astrid started to panic when she realized how much blood he must've lost.

"You _fucking_ idiot." She breathed, running her fingers on the bruising to determine the severity of it, ultimately coming to the conclusion that it was _incredibly _bad.

"Sssorry.." He hissed, clamping his eyes together in pain.

Moving slowly as to not startle him, Astrid stood up and fetched a box of medical supplies she had kept for emergencies, always expecting to use it on the twins or snotlout, _not _her usually intelligent boyfriend.

"If you die on me, I'm going to kill you." Her threat came out more emotional than she intended, causing Hiccup to squint his eyed open.

"Babe?" he mumbled, lacking the proper energy to fully look at her.

"Shh, stay still. And cover your mouth to.. _lessen _the cries of pain."

Nodding, Hiccup leaned his head back into the bed and closed his eyes again. First, Astrid cleaned the wound with a damp cloth, grimacing slightly with each muffled hiss of pain that came out of her boyfriend's mouth. Next, she retrieved a special cream that Gothi had provided her with, an anti-swelling cream of sorts.

The process of applying the cream was more gut wrenching for both of the vikings. For Hiccup, it was the physical pain that excruciating; the cream seemed to hurt him more when applied than cleaning the wound with water.

On the other hand, for Astrid it was his groans and cries of pain that brought her to tears. She rubbed the cream on the bruises and cuts staying as silent as possible, not wanting to let her emotions take over in the moment when her boyfriend was in dire need of aid.

When it was over, she softly tapped Hiccups leg to indicate that the painful part was over. All that was left was bandaging, a fairly simple and painless process.

Hiccup stared at her as she bandage his abdomen with a determined look in her eyes. He tried not to, but whimpered when she moved too high up towards the more grave wounds, immediately noticing the flinch his girlfriend made at the sound.

"Astrid?" No response, she continued to wrap the fabric around his torso.

"Baby?"

He noticed her hands shaking, and carefully grasped her hands in his, stopping her from being able to bandage him up further. Her eyes met his and she couldn't hold it back anymore. The tears that she was forcing back came and rolled down her cheeks as she looked away.

"What's wrong?"

"_What's wrong? _Hiccup, you almost _fucking _died!" She growled as the tears continued to stream down her face.

"I should have been there _with you. _I could've _protected _you."

Hiccup weakly raised his hand to her cheek, wiping a few tears away with his thumb. Astrid pushed her cheek into his palm, then moved to press a kiss his into his hand. "No. No, you shouldn't have been there."

Furrowing her eyebrows, she lifted her face away from her boyfriends hand. He continued, "If you went with me, you could've been hurt too. _Or worse_...you could've.." He shook his head softly, _no, he shouldn't think about that. _

"But-"

"No Astrid. No buts. I'm fine, you're safe. I'd rather get blown out of the sky a thousand times more than see you get hurt because of my stupidity."

"_You don't look fine to me_." She sniffed quietly, and after a second she placed her hands under Hiccup's chin and rested her forehead against his.

"Wh-why are you so afraid of letting me know?" Astrid's voice was a little higher for a moment. Usually she'd hate herself for showing the mushy feelings she usually forced down inside her, but she knew Hiccup wasn't one to judge. Hiccup was her teammate and much more, she felt comfortable with exposing her emotions around him.

He gulped, his nose touched hers as she continued to lean over him with their foreheads touching. "I didn't want you to worry."

"I'm always going to worry about you." she whispered. "And I think you broke your ribs." She sniffed again, letting out a heavy breath.

Hiccup let out a breathy chuckle, before running a hand up her face and through her hair. "I'm sorry Astrid, I should've told you sooner." A tear escaped his eye, Astrid sat up and held a hand to his cheek.

"I'm staying here with you tonight." She asserted suddenly.

"W-what, Astrid you don't have to-"

"It's not up for discussion, Haddock. If anything were to happen to you while I was in my hut, I'd never forgive myself. Besides, it's not the first time we've shared a bed." He blushed a little prompting a giggle from the blonde viking, she carefully stood up from the bed and fetched him a new tunic, one that wasn't covered in blood.

She came back over to the bed, Hiccup sat up cautiously, wincing slightly in pain. "Here, let me help you." Kneeling on the bed, Astrid helped him put on the shirt, being careful with the bandages.

"It's probably a bad time, but you're so frickin hot." She breathed with a smirk as he pull the fabric over his head. Blushing, Hiccup chuckled looking up at her, "So are you."

Shuffling slowly, he scooted over until he was probably sat on the bed, leaning back as Astrid joined him at his side.

"It's going to take some time but you'll heal eventually. I'll send for Gothi tomorrow morning."

Hiccup hummed in response, rubbing her hand up and down her arm soothingly.

Resting her head on her boyfriend's shoulder, she buried her face into his neck and inhaled deeply. "I love you, but if you do something like this again, I'll send you to Valhalla myself."

He chuckled again, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and mumbled, "I love you too."


	4. Stay

The terrible terrors were always so reliable when it came to a wake up call, Hiccup thought with a feeling of vexation. The young chief let out a groan, he swung his foot off the bed and sat up, and reached for his artificial leg which sat on the floor, but was stopped when he felt his fiancées arms wrap around his waist, pulling him back into the bed. "Astrid, what are you doing?" He said in a hushed tone, still half asleep.

"Stay." She whispered, placing a kiss on his shoulder blade.

"I can't. The village needs me."

She held onto him tighter, pressing her forehead against his back. She mumbled, "_But I need you too._"


	5. Alphabet Soup

Hiccup looked across the table at his girlfriend, who was pushing her food around with her utensil, seeming to not be interested in eating. He sighed, "Why are you mad at me?"

Astrid looked up from her bowl, obviously upset, she looked back down and grumbled with annoyance. "What gave you that idea?"

Hiccup stared back down at his bowl of alphabet soup, which only contained the letters D's, I's and E's. "...Just a hunch."


	6. Battle Scars

Astrid traces the bruise blossoming across her abdomen. Surrounded by older markings, It was ugly dark purple, large and tender, it curved around from her navel and up her side. _It looks worse than it is_, Astrid thinks, ignoring the throb as she twists to see how far around her body it goes, the burst of pain when she pokes her side. _Nothing serious_. Just a bruise.

A large, painful one, but still just a bruise. Nothing broken, _probably. _

She's had a lot worse. Fought with a lot worse. She was a Hofferson for Thor's sake! She could handle a slight bruising!

Astrids fingers moved to a different markings on her abdomen, a scar. One of many, the young viking seemed to be covered in them. Most of them were due to injuries in battles, some even from dragon raids before Hiccup even met Toothless. In fact, she still had a burn mark on her forearm from a piece of flaming debris that had hit her when a monster nightmare set fire to a building she was next to.

Another burn on her hand was a result from the stables getting struck by lightning when she became temporarily blind.

A lot of the other scars were results from her own stubbornness, she had to admit.

There was an arrow mark on her leg from when she blocked the dragon root arrow from hitting Stormfly. There were claw marks, old worn scrapes from numerous blades throughout the years, one severe one was a huge sword scar wound that ran from her left shoulder to her kidney region on her back. Astrid could remember so clearly how she'd received it, a hunter caught her off guard, _it hurt like hell_, and Hiccup wouldn't leave her side for a week.

A part of her hated the scars, she loathed each time she removed her armour and apparel, _a visual representation of damaged goods_, something in her head spited.

It was hard to believe that people found her attractive, harder to believe that her boyfriend found her pretty, he wouldn't think so if he saw the damage her body had collected over the years.

She would do nothing but embarrass herself in anyone saw the scars.

_It's only fun if you get a scar out of it, _her mother's voice rang in her head,

Astrid cringed just thinking about it. She stared down at her almost bare torso, her fingers tracing the newest addition to her body of blemishes.

She didn't even need to tell anyone she was currently injured. Besides, does a bruise even count as an injury?

The true viking in her said 'no', a single bruise was a fool's definition of an injury. _It doesn't even hurt that much_. As long as she takes care to move more slowly, sleeps on her back, doesn't breathe too deep. A few days, a week at most, and she'll be _fine_.

She swung around when she heard the door creak.

"Astrid?"

Hiccup didn't even bother knocking, as he was too impatient and worried to do something as simple as knock.

Astrid immediately held her shirt up to cover herself, not in a way to conceal her half naked form, she still wore her chest bindings, but as a way to hide the giant bruise and other scars that would definitely prompt unwanted questions from the one legged viking.

Surprisingly, her boyfriend wasn't the least bit fazed by her bareness, but more to the fact that she was _definitely _hiding something.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you about what?"

"The massive bruise covering most of your torso."

Astrid went silent. Hiccup let out a sigh and moved forwards putting up a hand in surrender when she flinched at his approach.

She pulled away when his eyes lingered on the bruise for too long. She pulled her tunic closer to her, desperate to hide herself and tried not to wince when it pulled on her tender skin and sore muscles. "It's just a bruise."

"Just a-" Hiccup breaks off with a frustrated sigh, running his hands through already mussed hair.

"_Just a bruise? _Astrid, you could've at least told me-" She closes her eyes when his voice stopped suddenly.

His eyes were glued to the giant lesion that ran over her shoulder and down her back, it was visible no matter how hard she tried to cover herself.

Astrid's body, Hiccup discovered then, was littered with scars. He would've expected a warrior like his girlfriend to have at least some battle scars, but the amount on her pale bare skin was alarming to the one legged viking. He looked up at her face, her head turned away. "Astrid?"

"I wish you knocked." She mumbled, still not looking at him. She seemed self-conscious, which ultimately scared him even more, Astrid was not one to be humiliated by her appearance.

"Astrid, what's wrong? You don't have to be embarrassed."

"I'm not _embarrassed_," She snapped, rather harshly. She didn't mean it, but her mind was racing and emotions clouded her sense of control. "I'm just _ashamed_."

Hiccups voice came out softer, more sad, "Why on earth would you be ashamed?"

Her gaze lingered on him before letting out a tired sigh. "I don't know, I just don't like them."

He stayed quiet but looked at her as if asking for permission before he leaned over, and examined the scar on her shoulder. She flinched when his fingers made contact with her bare shoulder, she relaxed slightly when rested his free hand on hers.

"You shouldn't have to feel scared about showing me these kind of things,'' he whispered as he traced the lines on her body. "I would never make fun of you."

"I know." She mumbled as his hand reached a scar on her abdomen.

He was silent for a moment, carving each scar into his memory. The second largest mark was located on her side, underneath her right ribcage.

"I remember this one." He mumbled aloud.

"Ryker, right?"

She nodded quietly.

"I don't remember it being this big..."

Astrids hand reached down to trace the wound herself. In a distant voice, as though she were remembering the moment, she admitted quietly, "It hurt. _A lot._"

"I'm sorry."

"You werent the one holding the sword, don't be sorry." There was a trace of humour in her tone, making Hiccup calm a bit. He looked back down and memorized more of the scars and burns.

"You're so beautiful."

"No I'm not."

He furrowed his eyebrows and looked up at her. Standing straight, he moved a strand of hair behind her ear, and whispered sincerely, "Yes you are."

"Why?" She looked up at him with a confused stare. "I look _vandalized_."

"You look beautiful, Astrid. No matter what, I'll always think so."

She raised an eyebrow, and hesitated, "Scars and all?"

He chuckled. "Hey, I'm missing a foot and yet, somehow you're my girlfriend."

She chuckled slightly at that, and leaned to rest her forehead on his. "I love you." She whispered, running her thumb along his knuckles.

Hiccup moved away and pressed his lips onto the scar on her shoulder. "I love you too." He mumbled onto her skin.

Astrid let out a breathy laugh and sniffed. "I'm sorry if I was being dramatic."

"You weren't, and don't apologize. I'm so happy you trust me enough to see you like this." She nudged him slightly with her fist at his suggestive tone.

She pulled her tunic over her head, smiling up at her boyfriend thankfully.

He spoke again. "We're gonna have to do something with that bruise, though. Maybe I should take you to see Gothi.."

She chuckled and rested her head on his shoulder. "Tomorrow. Right now, I just want to stay here. _With you._"


	7. Braids

**Set a few weeks before Httyd 2**

—-

They were sitting still and silent, and in all honesty, _it scared her badly_.

To put it into the simplest of terms, Hiccup, being the headstrong viking he is, had flown off in the middle of a conversation with his father; this prompted the young Hofferson to take off after him to try and reason with her rather stubborn boyfriend.

Hiccup, to say the least, was not too pleased with Astrid taking his dad's side in said argument. So when Astrid followed him and started yelling at him to go back home once they landed, he decided he was done with her demands and yelled right back at her accusingly. Astrid was, to say the least, utterly baffled and more hurt than she expected to be in this sort of situation.

This was not the first time she feared her usually kind boyfriend would finally retaliate, but it was the first time he actually _acted _on it. She snapped at him, bringing his childish behaviour out into the open, which only made the argument escalate.

After their fight ended, _not to be misinterpreted as resolved in any way_, they sat down and said nothing, which scared Astrid, _not that she would ever admit it_.

Hiccup was anything but quiet, and when he was, something was always wrong. She was fearful, usually by now he would've said something, look in her direction at least. The blonde woman bit the inside of her cheek, trying to force back tears that threatened to spill out of her eyes. It was embarrassing in Hofferson standards to become so worked up over something as plain as an argument, but this dispute in particular made her stomach turn and anxiety creep in her head.

After a few more minutes, Astrid could not bear the silence anymore,

"_Hiccup_." She hated how strained and…_weak_ her voice came out, she hated even more how much she desperately wanted to burst into tears and apologize for what was causing him to be so angry, whether it was her own behaviour or his fathers.

Though, his only response was merely a grunt. "Hiccup," she tried again, this time with a steady voice.

"_What_, Astrid?" he asked rather harshly, she flinched slightly at his exasperated tone towards her. She did not dare to look him in the eyes, which wasn't difficult as she was sitting beside him with a good distance between them.

"I…" she trailed off quietly, looking down at her hands resting in her lap.

They fell back into the same painful silence as before. After a few more minutes of this, feeling like she wanted to burst, Astrid cautiously shuffled her way so that she was in arms length of him. Reaching out carefully, as if he'd bite her hand off at one wrong movement, she reached for Hiccups hair, just behind his ear, and hesitantly started to braid it. Hiccup inhaled sharply, causing her to pause for a moment. "Astrid, what are you doing?"

She took a deep breath before responding softly, "I want to show you ... that even when we argue, I still love you no matter what."

He closed his eyes and inhaled, a wave of unsureness ran over her as he stayed silent.

"Hiccup?" Her voice was quiet, barely audible, _weak_. But he eventually exhaled and mumbled tiredly, "I love you too."

He was quiet for a moment but it was quickly cut off by a yelp of pain as she tugged hard on his hair, "Ow, Astrid! What are you doing?"

She smiled, securing the braid carefully, and placed her chin on his shoulder, mumbling into his ear, "As I said, i'm giving you a reminder."

She moved so Hiccup could reach his hand back to feel the braid, "Astrid…" he sighed, finally turning to make eye contact.

She grabbed her own braid and held it up, "We match now, see?" She spoke with almost childlike innocence, he couldn't help but smile a little.

"So… are we okay?" Astrid asked hopefully, tilting her head to see the expression on his down tilted head.

"Yeah. Astrid I'm sorry I took that all out on you. I'm just—"

Astrid raises an eyebrow, "Stressed, tired, overwhelmed?"

"Yeah," he replied, all those feelings traced in his voice.

"Hey," she said, her voice soft, "_Life_ is difficult, Hiccup. But you don't have to go through this alone. I know you're in a tough place right now, and I'm sorry you're feeling a lot of pressure from your dad…_and me_…" She took his hands in hers, "But we're all _so_ proud of you. Please just know, you never have to go through any of this by yourself, _you're not alone, Hiccup._"

"I know that…but I know he's going to try to hand the entirety of Berk over to me soon…and I'm just not ready for that."

"You will be, though. And if you're not, you'll have your dad and..." she paused, reaching a hand to his cheek, running a thumb over his scar thoughtfully, "You'll always have me, Hiccup. Every step of the way."

Grinning, Hiccup reached towards Astrid and in a swift movement, pulled her to his side, then promptly kissed her forehead, "I love you, Astrid. And thank you."

"It's no big deal, I love you too." She sighed, before looking up at him again. "You ready to go back and finish that conversation with your dad?"

"No," He replied, looking forwards again.

"Hiccup…"

"I want to stay here with you, at least for a little while longer."

"I think I can live with that," Astrid replied, before pulling his small braid backwards until he was laying down on the grass, with a smirk she leaned over him and placed a deep kiss on his lips.

"Every step of the way."


End file.
